


why do you keep leaving?

by elowen_p



Series: Stay [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Happy Ending, and talia was like 'that's hot', selina and talia are v in love, some angst but not much, the moms damian deserves tbh, this was all inspired by that one panel where selina stabs talia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 12:41:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30089262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elowen_p/pseuds/elowen_p
Summary: When she went to duel Bruce's new lover to the death Talia hadn't been expecting to fall in love.It's almost impressive that she made a miscalculation so severe.~“I’m his favourite.” Selina says through a yawn, sure that her smugness will manage to shine through despite her exhaustion.“You are not.” Talia scoffs.“How many cats has he named after you?”There’s a moment of silence. Selina lets a grin stretch across her face.“Just you wait.” Talia says, “I will have a legion of cats named after me.”“Sure you will, love.” Selina manages through overtired giggles.
Relationships: Selina Kyle & Damian Wayne, Talia al Ghul & Damian Wayne, Talia al Ghul/Selina Kyle
Series: Stay [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2223618
Comments: 9
Kudos: 96





	why do you keep leaving?

**Author's Note:**

> dc's characterisation of talia had no influence on this fic

The first time Talia meets Bruce’s new lover, they stab each other.

Talia tries to ignore the fact that she’s a little impressed. It had been her understanding that the woman had no formal training and Talia hadn’t really expected her to get a hit in, let alone a stab wound. “You should leave my beloved alone.” she says, shaking off her surprise. “This will not end well for you otherwise.”

The woman looks stunned. It makes Talia pleased until she speaks. “We literally just broke up.” she says and it’s Talia’s turn to look shocked now.

“Oh.” There’s an awkward silence. Talia wants to shift her weight but there’s still a dagger in her side. She supposes she can’t exactly complain since there’s a sword in the woman’s. “I apologise. It seems my intel is out of date.”

The woman, Selina she supposes now, looks at Talia like she’s never seen another person before. “You think?”

Now that Talia doesn’t actually have a quarrel with the woman, a far away corner of her mind notes how the splatter of blood on Selina’s face and the arch of her eyebrow make her look the exact kind of pretty Talia likes best.

She wishes she could shake herself. This encounter isn’t going how Talia had planned it at all. “I suppose we should both seek medical attention now.” she declares, half to change the subject and half because it’s a valid point.

“I know a place.” Selina gets up, impressively steady considering how she has to keep one hand fixed on the sword in her to stop it moving around too much. Ones she’s on her feet she looks at Talia like she’s assessing her. Talia glares right back at her, back ramrod straight and eyes narrowed. Selina must like what she sees because she cocks the corner of her mouth into something a little like a smirk. “And afterwards you could come back to mine.” she says slyly, “Just to rest. Of course.”

Talia hadn’t quite expected that. Considering the turn of events the night has taken, she can’t say that she’s unhappy about it. “Of course.” she echoes, “Not to dissuade you, but it is my understanding that you just broke up with someone?”

“Psh,” Selina waves the hand that isn’t holding Talia’s sword steady inside of her, “I’m not one to dwell on the past.”

Talia allows herself a smile. “Well then, how could I object?”

~

Selina quite likes this thing she’s had going on with Talia, it’s far better than whatever was happening with Bruce at least.

‘Stop stealing things’, ‘Move in with me’, ‘Don’t team up against me with the Sirens’ nag, nag, nag. That’s all it had been with Bruce. Talia actually _understands_ the things Selina does and she couldn’t give less of a shit about them. Well, sort of. Selina imagines that if Talia saw her pull something as boring as your standard bank robbery she’d break up with her. That’s understandable though, _Selina_ would break up with someone who would pull a job that unfashionable.

“Why do you keep leaving?” Selina asks, stretching as she looks over to Talia packing her bag. It’s an honest question even if she already knows the answer.

“Some of us have jobs.” Talia replies, no heat behind it. She leans over and kisses Selina before shouldering the bag. She walks to the door but hesitates before turning the handle.

Selina freezes where she was still stretching. Talia _never_ hesitates.

“What if I work was not the reason I was leaving?”

“Then I’d be ashamed of myself for not having you caught you in a lie sooner.” Selina replies, keeping her tone casual despite the fact that this is probably the most serious conversation they’ve had to date. “I don’t suppose you’re cheating on me? Because I thought you had better taste than to do something so class-less.”

“I would never.” she declares. The severity of the statement doesn’t match the conversation’s previous tone and Selina realises quite suddenly that they aren’t trying to be light-hearted about this any more. Talia pauses a moment longer. “I’m going to bring someone next time we see each other.”

“Oh?”

She opens the door and for a moment Selina thinks she isn’t going to get a reply. Then Talia turns back, looking at Selina with an expression that could mean absolutely anything. “I hope that the two of you will mean something to each other.” she says, before walking out and closing the door softly behind her.

Selina doesn’t move for a while after that, thinking about what might be coming and finding herself oddly nervous. She hopes it won’t change things too much, her and Talia really do have something special going.

~

A couple of weeks later Selina gets back to her apartment to find Talia inspecting the blueprint she had set out on the table and a boy, perhaps eight years old, playing quietly with a couple of Selina’s cats.

Talia looks up from the blueprints. She doesn’t smile like she usually does when Selina enters a room. “This is my son. Damian.” she declares.

The boy looks up and cocks his head to one side. A part of Selina’s brain that she isn’t paying much attention to right now decides that how similar the boy looks to Bruce probably isn’t a coincidence.

In an instant Selina’s hopes that her and Talia’s relationship could continue unchanged are dashed. But as she looks at the boy being oh so careful with her kittens, she thinks she might not mind such a change after all.

~

Talia is making dinner with Selina when the Sirens burst in.

Selina had said that something like this would happen one day but this is the first time Talia has met them during her and Selina’s relationship.

“Guess what we-” Harley Quinn crows before stopping abruptly at the sight of Talia in the kitchen and Damian at the table. “Who’re you?”

Pamela Isley rolls her eyes before stepping forwards and holding out a hand. “Selina’s been telling us all about her new paramour, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” she says. Talia raises an eyebrow but shakes the hand. She supposes that if Selina likes these people so much she can stomach being polite.

Harley, who had been looking Talia up and down from behind Pamela, steps forward and thrusts her hand out for Talia to shake as well. “Harley Quinn, pleasure to meet ya. And I’ve got to say you are a _real_ improvement on the last guy Cat dated. Like really. Wowza.” Pamela elbows Harley in the ribs but she just responds by kissing her on the cheek. Talia raises an eyebrow at Selina who nods that yes, they’re always like this. Harley turns towards the kitchen table where Damian has turned away from his laptop and is looking at the group of them with undisguised judgement. “And is this your little one?”

“Yes.” Talia answers. She shoots a look at Damian since she can sense that he’s about three seconds from starting a fight. “He is.”

Harley leans down so that her face is level with Damian’s. “Isn’t he a cutie?”

“Continue to disrespect me and I shall remove your head from your shoulders, Quinn”

“And he’s got spunk!” she praises, her lack of fear just making Damian scowl harder. “Who’s the Daddy?” she asks, turning back to Talia.

“My ex.” Talia and Selina answer in unison.

Pamela looks up at the two of them sharply from where she had been inspecting the food and there’s a hint of confusion on Harley’s face for the first time in the whole conversation.

Talia knows it’s undignified, but she can’t help herself from a moment of sharp laughter. She might have been embarrassed over it if not for the way Selina giggles into her shoulder afterwards.

~

Talia has been in Gotham for too long. She needs to get back to the league if she’s going to retain the sort of power she has and stay in favour with her father.

“Why do you keep leaving?” Selina asks from their bed as Talia packs her bag.

Before she answers she’s unable to stop her eyes darting in the direction of what used to be Selina’s guest room and now undeniably belongs to Damian. She thinks for a moment on how he had always been her greatest motivation for returning to the league.

“I’m not so certain these days, my love.” she says instead of her usual answer.

Selina cracks an eye open and arches her back in the way that they both know is going to make Talia more inclined to stay. It doesn’t work, Talia shakes Damian awake and they leave just as they always do, but it takes her a little longer for them to depart than it has in the past.

As Talia closes the door, she catches a glimpse of Selina smiling through the doorway. There’s something triumphant in her expression and Talia thinks to herself that it’s a victory well earned.

~

After a day spent with Selina learning to crack safes, Damian turns to Talia and says, “Is Selina a replacement for my father?”

Talia spends a moment considering how to answer. It’s a complicated question. “Selina _is_ fulfilling a role in furthering your training that I imagined your father would take, although I do not believe that ‘replacement’ is the right word to describe what she’s been doing.”

Damian nods, satisfied by the answer, and returns to practising his sword work. Talia doesn’t stop thinking about his question.

Is she still planning on having Damian meet his father? Talia understands that her father wants an heir trained by Bruce, a desire that she has always thought quite sensible, but now she isn’t so sure. After spending so much time with Selina she can’t help but class her as objectively _better_ than Bruce in practically every way. Their skills in terms of stealth are of similar calibre, they both have intelligence in spades. Talia does admit that Bruce is the better fighter of the two but Selina far exceeds him when it comes to her skills in infiltration and persuasion.

There’s also the fact that her moral code is far better aligned with the one Damian should adopt as a son of the league.

Talia still thinks that it would be good for Damian to meet his father one day, but maybe not for training. Maybe he should meet Bruce for the sake of meeting him and nothing more.

She wonders what her father would think of this new plan of action. _He would kill me for it,_ she thinks.

Selina chooses that moment to enter the room. She looks at Damian as she walks to Talia’s side and gives him an approving nod when he turns to her. Once Selina is pressed against Talia’s side she turns so that her mouth is brushing Selina’s ear. “Do you think you could kill my father?” she whispers, quiet enough that Damian won’t hear.

Selina turns her head so that she can look Talia in the eye, their foreheads brushing. “For you? I would try.”

Talia thinks about how her father would try to stop her if she kept Damian here forever with her and Selina. About how he would twist her into an enemy of the League instead of its rightful heir.

 _He would never survive it,_ she thinks, and smiles.

~

Selina’s spent all day staking out her newest target. It wouldn’t have been particularly difficult if the only location that gave her a decent view hadn’t been the clocktower. She probably could have persuaded Barbara to let her in but she’s been doing an excellent job of avoiding Bruce recently and would prefer not to do anything to jeopardise that. Hence she spent her whole day evading Oracle and it had been _exhausting._

When she gets home all she wants is a bath, preferably with Talia, and something to drink.

She opens the door to Damian looking directly at her, clearly waiting for her, with a cat that doesn’t belong to Selina in his arms. She realises quickly that she isn’t going to get the relaxing night she had been looking forward to but she can’t say that she’s mad about it.

“Damian’s adopted a stray.” Talia informs her from where she’s sat on the sofa. There’s obvious humour in her eyes that contrasts awfully with the sharpness of her face and Selina feels herself go soft at the sight.

Damian, clearly unhappy about the lack of attention to his adoptee, walks up to Selina and thrusts the kitten up towards her face so that they’re practically nose to nose.

“This is Selina.”

Selina tries not to coo. “And what’s the kitty’s name?”

Damian frowns and Selina thinks she might have misunderstood something. “No, I was talking to you. _She’s_ Selina.”

“I-” Selina manages to stifle the laugh before it manages to bubble out of her. She shoots a quick glance at Talia who’s badly suppressing a smile at the two of them and it almost erases all her hard work in trying to remain serious. “I see.” She reaches out a hand to scratch behind the kitten’s ears. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Selina.” she says.

Selina the cat seems very happy with the scratches and Damian gives a very serious nod in approval at the fact it seems the two of them are getting along. Talia lets out a snort of laughter from the couch. Damian whips around to level what Selina’s sure must be an impressive glare at Talia and Selina does her best to give her a look of mock admonishment over his head.

After a couple of hours spent with Damian getting the new cat settled in the apartment, Selina’s finally in bed with Talia about to go to sleep.

“I’m his favourite.” she says through a yawn, sure that her smugness will manage to shine through despite her exhaustion.

“You are not.” Talia scoffs.

Selina opens one of her eyes just so that she can catch a glimpse of the indignant look on Talia’s face. “How many cats has he named after you?”

There’s a moment of silence. Selina lets a grin stretch across her face.

“Just you wait.” Talia says, “I will have a _legion_ of cats named after me.”

“Sure you will, love.” Selina manages through overtired giggles. In moments she’s asleep.

~

Talia’s phone is ringing and the caller ID says ‘Unknown’.

It only ever says Unknown when it’s her father calling.

She doesn’t pick up.

Selina leans over so that she can see what’s causing Talia to glare so intently at the screen. Talia feels her stiffen a little when she sees. “I can’t say I’m not a fan of this course of action, but won’t this cause you problems?” she asks, mouth brushing Talia’s neck.

“You should know that I am an excellent problem solver.” Talia huffs.

Selina laughs. Her mouth was already resting against Talia’s neck so the laugh causes Talia to feel the scrape of teeth against her skin.

She stops looking at the phone.

~

Ever since realising that Selina’s apartment was Damian’s new address rather than whatever variety of League bases he and Talia had blown through since his birth, Selina had started mentioning to Talia that she should enrol Damian in a school.

Sat in front of Damian’s art teacher at the Gotham Academy parents evening, Selina realises that she hadn’t actually thought it would work.

Talia had been far more receptive of the argument that Damian needed to spend time around people his own age once Selina had lent her some parenting books she had lifted from Bruce which had explained the importance of children socialising, something that Talia had never considered before. _That_ whole thing had led to an early morning conversation about Talia’s childhood that had left Selina with an insatiable urge to beat up Ra’s.

She may have plans to steal some major valuables from the League. It’s a side project of hers.

Anyway, Talia’s education in how parenting works in normal families had led her to agreeing that enrolling Damian in school would be a good idea and of _course_ he had to be enrolled in the best school in the city. Really, anything less would be ridiculous. And now Selina is being informed that Damian has a real aptitude for art.

In fairness, she would be lying if she said she wasn’t enjoying it.

They go from his art teacher to his english teacher, from his english teacher to his chemistry teacher, from his chemistry teacher to his maths teacher. Selina swears that she wasn’t taught this many subjects when she was eight. Maybe it’s just a rich people thing.

As they’re going from Damian’s maths teacher to his history teacher, Selina feels Talia stiffen next to her and immediately grows alert. She starts scanning the room for assassins.

Her eyes land on something worse.

Bruce is stood with Jason, presumably between appointments like they are, staring at the three of them in open-mouthed shock. Jason looks a little like he wants to have the same reaction but shakes it off and drags Bruce over to them. Selina is struck by how she was aware that this Robin wasn’t one to back down from a fight but this is a battle even _she_ might hesitate before diving into.

Looking at the pair, she thinks that Bruce might actually be digging his heals into the ground. She’ll laugh about it later once she’s panicking a little less.

Once the two groups converge Jason gives her a suspicious look and Damian a friendly nod.

“Todd.” Damian acknowledges.

“Demon spawn” Jason responds, smiling good naturedly. Selina thinks it’s a bold method of address considering how all of Damian’s parents, biological and otherwise, are present right now. Jason ruffles Damian’s hair in an action that Selina finds suspiciously brotherly and Damian hisses at him like an angry cat. Selina couldn’t be prouder.

Bruce looks between the two kids, still obviously confused. “You two know each other?” he chokes out.

“Damian stalks me.” Jason says cheerily.

“I do not!” Damian bristles. Bruce can’t stop looking between the two of them and Talia and Selina with wide eyes. “You merely happen to be in my way with more regularity than is average.”

“Sure I do.” Jason rolls his eyes before nudging a still catatonic Bruce with his elbow. “You know the kid’s even recruited our neighbour? Not stalking me my ass.”

“Language.” three voices admonish in unison. Selina indulges in a moment of horror that she just agreed with Bruce on something.

They return to awkward silence for a moment before Bruce looks very obviously at his watch.

“Well, we’ve got another appointment in a minute so Jason and I will be off. It was nice seeing you.” The last part comes out more questioning that he had probably intended but Bruce just sweeps off with Jason instead of attempting to add any confidence to his platitudes.

Once they’re out of earshot Talia turns to Damian. “Stalking?” she asks, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

Damian huffs out a breath. “I have merely been ensuring that my training hasn’t suffered for the current situation.” He turns to Selina. “Through my surveillance I have become confident that your teachings are far superior to anything Todd undergoes with the Batman.” He keeps up the haughty demeanour but there’s an undercurrent of sincerity in his tone and Selina can’t help but be touched.

“We should be on our way to out next appointment.” Talia says. She sounds as no-nonsense as usual but she’s pulling the face she usually does when she’s feeling proud of Damian and trying not to smile about it.

Selina has no such qualms and lifts Damian into a tight hug that she may or may not manage to drag Talia into.

They’re late to their next appointment. No one says it but from the looks the three of them exchange they all come to the conclusion that it was worth it.

~

It’s three a.m. and Talia is packing a bag.

She’s cut down her visits to the League. She hasn’t even spoken to her father since she rejected his last call but she still has to put in the occasional appearance. She’s the daughter of the Demon’s Head after all, she’s still the first in line to the throne.

Most of the time she tries to ignore how she doesn’t care about that fact whatsoever these days.

“Why do you keep leaving?” Selina asks from their bed.

Talia looks at her for a moment, bag strapped across her shoulder. Selina’s looking at her steadily, no judgement in her eyes. She asks the same question every time Talia leaves and never chases Talia for an answer when she doesn’t want to give one. She just makes sure that Talia remembers that she has a choice in these things.

She’s sort of perfect.

The thought makes Talia want to stop ignoring how little she cares for the League now and pay more attention to how much she cares about her life in Gotham with Selina. To how deeply she hated the isolation the League forced on her. To how it’s still trying to keep her in pieces because she’d just be too strong if they let her be whole.

Selina is still looking up at her, moonlight sending her profile into sharp contrast. Talia doubts anyone’s ever looked more gorgeous.

“Fuck it.” she whispers.

She drops her bag to the floor and lunges back onto the bed where Selina’s wide awake now. They start kissing, hard and biting and hungry. The way they both kiss best.

“Why are you staying?” Selina asks against Talia’s mouth.

“Because I love you.”

Talia doesn’t process the words until they’re out of her mouth. She’s never said that before. Selina has, but Talia’s never quite managed to return it.

She wasn’t sure that she could.

Selina pulls back long enough to give Talia a smirk that looks completely wicked.

“I’m going to make you very happy that you said that.” she whispers.

“Not if I beat you to it.”

Selina’s smirk only widens. “I do love a challenge.”

She really is lucky that Talia feels the exact same way.

~

The morning after Talia and Selina are sipping on coffee when Damian comes into the kitchen and looks between the two of them suspiciously.

“Did something happen?”

Talia and Selina exchange a glance. From the look on his face it only makes Damian’s suspicion grow.

“I do not believe we should return to the League.” Talia pauses, because even if her father did his best to train it out of her she really does want Damian to be happy. “Would you be amenable to remaining in Gotham for the foreseeable future?”

Damian looks between the two of them, expression unreadable, before his face splits into the biggest grin that Talia’s ever seen on him. He launches himself at Talia and wraps his arms around her waist. She freezes for a moment before crouching down and returning the embrace.

“ _Thank you_.” he says, switching to Arabic. “ _Thank you. Yes I want to stay here_.”

Talia turns her head a bit to see Selina smiling softly at the two of them. She doesn’t know much Arabic but she must be able to tell that Damian’s answer is ‘yes’. Talia gestures with her hand for Selina to join the hug and the three of them end up spending an indeterminable amount of time tangled together on the floor of Selina’s kitchen.

Actually, Talia supposes that it’s _their_ kitchen now.

The thought makes her wonder if maybe people like her and Damian really can get happy endings.

~

A couple of months later Talia is getting a glass of water in the middle of the night when she finds her father sat in the living room.

There was a time when she might have respected the theatrics but now she just finds them tacky.

They look at each other for a moment. It’s the first time they’ve seen each other in the flesh in over a year.

“You’ve been hiding.” Ra’s says slowly. As if Talia would be impressed by his gravitas after all these years.

“I left.” Talia scoffs. “As if I would hide from my own people.”

Her father looks at her critically. “Well it seems that you’ve ‘left’ your own people, so it’s hardly surprising that I don’t know what to expect of you any more.”

“These are my people too.”

“I was under the impression that there was only one person. Or have you been branching out?”

Talia narrows her eyes and she can feel the scathing retort building in her chest, burning like acid. Then Damian comes out of his room, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and all of a sudden Talia has very different worries.

Her father smiles in satisfaction at the change in circumstance and Talia feels a spike of hatred jolt through her.

Damian processes the scene in front of him and freezes. In a moment he straightens his back and wipes the tiredness from his face. “Grandfather.” he greets, voice neutral in a way that Talia hasn’t heard from him in months.

“Grandson.” he returns, offering a nod which Talia imagines would have had Damian glowing with pride a lifetime ago. She feels her own sense of pride burning in her chest when Damian gives no visible response. “I trust that you have been continuing your training?”

“Of course.”

“Excellent.” Ra’s’ face splits into a tiny smile full of knives.

It’s at that point that Selina must hear that something is happening and comes out of the bedroom, a loaded gun in each hand pointed at Ra’s.

 _God_ Talia loves her.

Ra’s raises an eyebrow. “So you really think that’s going to work? I’ve been dodging bullets since guns were made.”

“Then isn’t it about time that one hit you?”

“No.” Ra’s says in a voice that Talia would have thought arrogant if she didn’t know the man as well as she does. “Not quite yet.”

Then there’s a knife resting against Talia’s throat and two more wielded by matching League assassins for Selina and Damian.

Talia should have noticed the assassin behind her. She can feel the anger, partially at the situation but more at herself, rising inside her but she just woke up and this is her _home_ and she thinks that it might be the only place in the world where she’s never felt in danger before.

She feels a moment of righteous anger at her father for taking that away from her too.

“I would suggest that you drop the guns, Miss Kyle.”

Selina doesn’t, because she has a brain. At her lack of response Ra’s sighs a little, as if this is hurting him too, and makes a gesture at the assassins holding Talia and Damian. Talia immediately feels the pressure and slight sawing motion of the knife against her neck as it cuts into her just enough to paint a truly distressing picture for anyone that loves her.

Talia can’t quite turn her head enough to see but she’s sure that Damian’s getting the same treatment beside her. She worries for a moment over how the assassins have been trained to slit the throats of adults and Damian’s neck is far smaller and his skin far easier to slice than theirs. She’s sure that no one in the League would make such an idiotic mistake as slitting the heir to the demon throne’s throat by accident.

But she worries.

“If you would, Miss Kyle.” Ra’s prompts.

Selina gives the impression of an annoyed sigh without actually moving a muscle, a skill which Talia admires greatly, and lowers her guns to the floor. Out of the corner of her eye Talia can see Damian watching Selina’s movement far too intently to not be planning something and she feels her worry crank up a notch.

“Really, Grandfather,” he starts, calm in negotiation as Talia has taught him to be. “There’s no need for this unpleasantness. All you needed to do was request my presence.”

Ra’s raises an eyebrow. “I thought your loyalty to your mother greater than that.”

“And yet my loyalty to the League is even greater.” Damian muses and Talia feels only awe at the fact _her son_ is lying to the most powerful man in the world with such ease.

“I _do_ suppose that makes things easier.” Ra’s says speculatively. “Come along then, Grandson.”

Damian walks to Ra’s, every inch the perfect heir. His back straight and head held high despite how he’s surrounded by a war between some of the people he loves most. He wears the expression of mild disdain he’s been taught since birth with as much grace as any Al Ghul before him. As he reaches Ra’s, Talia thinks that her father might even look grateful to have such an heir willingly stood at his side.

Then Damian kicks him between the legs. Hard.

Ra’s drops like a stone and Damian leans forward to speak in his ear.

“Don’t call me Grandson, musty bitch.”

Selina starts cackling and Talia is inclined to join her but she decides to use the moment of distraction more productively and snatches the knife pressed against her neck from the hands of the assassin behind her. She turns it in her hand, getting a feel for its weight, and throws it with all her might into her father’s head.

It hits dead centre between his eyes and quivers there for a moment.

Selina’s cackles dull for a moment but then Talia gives a snort, half from relief and half from the absurdity of the situation, which just sets her off again. Damian looks at the two of them, his mouth twitching in the way they all know is him trying to suppress a smile.

“Good throw, Mother.” he praises.

“Thank you Damian. Your assistance in giving me an opening was much appreciated.”

He allows the smile that was playing at the edges of his mouth take hold for a moment, his expression twisting into something more mischievous than Talia had once thought him capable of. “Selina taught me that move.”

“Did she now?” Talia asks, arching an eyebrow in Selina’s direction. She just smiles shamelessly and the fact that Talia doesn’t even find that annoying is a true sign of how far gone she is.

“What can I say? The kid’s a prodigy. Now,” She turns to the two assassins still in the room, neither of them quite sure what to do considering the man that pays them is now dead on the floor. “Are we going to have to kill you too? Or are you going to run along?”

The assassins choose option two. It’s a good thing really, a ‘you kill it, you clean it’ policy had to be introduced early on in Selina and Talia’s relationship and Talia isn’t looking forward to getting any more bloodstains out of the floor tonight.

~

After Ra’s body has been disposed of in Gotham harbour and the blood stains have been scrubbed out of the living room floor, Talia and Selina manage to curl up together in their bed a little before sunrise.

“One of us is going to have to call the school to say Damian isn’t coming it today.” Selina says through a yawn.

“We’re sleeping till then.” Talia says firmly. “I was thinking about later-”

“I thought we were sleeping?”

“We’re going to be asleep and then we’re going to wake up and call the school but I’m talking now.” Talia decrees. Selina lets out a snort and borrows deeper into her chest. “I was thinking about later, and we should go out for a meal tonight. To celebrate an auspicious start to my freelance career.”

Selina lifts her head enough that her and Talia are face to face. “Freelance career?”

Talia lets herself smirk a little. “Have I not mentioned that I’m an assassin, my love?”

“Possibly once or twice.”

“And the leader of the world’s largest assassination organisation has just had an unfortunate accident. So I think there might be a significant market for freelance work about now.”

Selina closes her eyes and presses her face back into Talia. “You’ll terrify them, love.”

“Of course. The alarm to call the school should go off in half an hour.”

Selina hums in satisfaction. “Let’s sleep then. I Love you.”

“Love you too.”

They drift off as the sun rises over Gotham.

**Author's Note:**

> \- I was gonna be basic and have Bruce meet selina and talia at a wayne gala and i’m so glad I decided to try and do something different.  
> \- My favourite scenes are by far the selina the cat one and the parents evening one.  
> \- Am highly considering doing a followup that's tim's perspective of being recruited by damian to stalk his neighbors largely so I can write damian being like 'pls be my spy' and tim is like ‘spy? me? spy?’ *shoves photo albums of the bats back in his locker* ‘i would never. I am an innocent average child. absolutely not’  
> \- I don't remember who's the world's best assassin in canon but in my heart it will always be lady shiva and i like the idea that after this fic her and talia are always duking it out for the top spot and just generally being really pissy with each other.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!! Please yell at me if you're interested in that tim pov followup!
> 
> edit 22/03/21: tim pov followup is done! it's the next work in the series now :)


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